FOREIGN NOTICES. 



245 



\\tti mo'jnta,ins on the opposite side of the lake are 

 KiU'sh higher and wilder than the Catskills ; in 

 fact, many are covered with snow, and belong to 

 the chain of Mont Blanc. The trees, at this 

 place, were all choice varieties, planted 32 years 

 ago, and carefully cultivated since ; and consist, 

 therefore, of superb specimens of the dilTerent pines, 

 acacias, oaks, hollies, thorns, rhododendrons, bays, 

 yews, &.C.; as under-growth, magnificent speci- 

 mens of Cedars of Lebanon and chestnuts, actually 

 dragging their branches, like a willow, on the 

 ground. 



Great use is made of a most graceful tree, the 

 Weeping Silver Birch, which, in one instance, is 

 planted in the same hole with a pretty, drooping, 

 fragile, dark looking cedar ; and the two (some 

 25 years old,) have grown up together like two 

 loving sisters ; and their dark and silvery foliage, 

 and graceful arms, gently entwined together, seem 

 to Cling fondly to each other for support-^the Min- 

 na and Brenda of the Woods. 



We pass our mornings here as at Wodenethe, — 

 walking about the grounds until it is hot, and then 

 taking our books "sub teg mine fagi,'^ of which 

 there are some admirable specimens ; after dinner, 

 at five, where we meet only Sir John W. and fami- 

 ly, (some very nice English people,) we take a 

 row on the lake, — in fact, just the life we should 

 be leading if making a visit upon the Hudson, and 

 therefore so home-like as to be very charming. 



Munich is wonderful in modern art j in fact, it is 

 Rome, Florence and Naples, as they looked centu- 

 ries ago, when fresh and clean, and their public 

 buildings intelligible, which now they are not, from 

 grimness and dirt and accumulated rubbish. At 

 Augsburgh, one of the oldest cities in Germany, we 

 lodged in the "Three Mons," the oldest hotel in 

 the world ; having existed as an inn hi 1306. 

 Yours, H. ►»/. S. 



The Stanwick Nectarine gives us, for the 

 first time, a clear idea of the excellence of those 

 fruits of Syria which appear destined to throw out 

 of cultivation most of the stone fruits which Euro- 

 peans have so highly prized. We are accustomed 

 to point to the peaches of Paris and the White nec- 

 tarines of Jersey as examples of all that is most 

 delicious in the class of fruits to which tliey belong ; 

 but they are tasteless and worthless when placed 

 by the side of the Stnnwick nectarine. It is no ex- 

 aggeration to say that this variety stands among 

 nectarines where the finest Green Gage stands 

 among plums. 



The history of this admirable fruit is given in the 

 " Journal of the Horticultural Society," by Mr. 

 Thompson, who speaks of it thus : — 



'' Fruit of this new and extraordinary production 

 was received August 29, 1846, from the Right Hon. 

 Lord Prudhoe, in whose garden at Stanwick Park 

 it had ripened. His lordship obtained the variety 

 from stones given him by Mr. Barker, formerly 

 her Majesty's Viee-Consul at Aleppo, and now re- 

 siding near Suedia, or Souadiah, in Syria, whose 

 favorable climate is peculiarly suitable for the cul- 

 tivation of Asiatic and European fruits. A year or 

 two since Mr. Barker brought to this country, 

 amongst other things, peaches and nectarines with 



sweet kernels. Such varieties were previously un- 

 known in Europe, and were probably never heard 

 of till their existence was announced by Mr. Bar- 

 ker. 



" The nectarine forming the subject of this no- 

 tice, is about the size of an EIruge, and like it in 

 shape, except in being less heart-shaped at the 

 base. Its skin is pale, like that of the White nec- 

 tarine, where shaded, with a violet tinge next the 

 sun. The flesh is white, exceedingly tender, juicy, 

 rich, and sugary, without the slightest trace of the 

 flavor of prussic acid. The stone is middle-sized, 

 ovate, with rather a prominent sharp edge, very 

 rugged, and of a chocolate colour. The kernel is 

 sweet, like a nut, possessing nothing of the bitter 

 almond flavor. 



" The fruit of the peach and nectarine, partaking 

 so much as it does of the quality of the bitter al- 

 mond, must have been very deleterious in its unim- 

 proved state. Mr. Knight, who himself succeeded 

 in producing a melting peach from an almond, 

 figured Hort. Trans., vol. iii., p. ], states that 

 the Tuberes of Pliny must have been swollen Al- 

 monds, or imperfect Peaches ; and Duhamel has 

 given an account of a fruit which accurately cor- 

 responds with this description, being sometimes 

 produced by a variety of Almond tree in France. 

 Mr. Knight adds ; — 



" ' The bitterness in this case, I conclude, can 

 only arise from the presence of the prussic acid ; 

 and as this acid, without being extracted by distil- 

 lation, operates very injuriously upon many consti- 

 tutions, some explanation appears to be given of 

 the cause why the Peach was reported to possess 

 deleterious qualities when it first came from Persia 

 into the Roman empire.' 



" Stipaiituf calathi et pomis, quse barbara Persis, 

 Miseral (ut fama est) patriis armaia venenis." 



Columella, Kb. 10. 



" The varieties of the peach and nectarine now 

 generally cultivated retain but little of the injurious 

 properties ascribed to the species by ancient au- 

 thors ; and, when well ripened, they can be gene- 

 rally eaten with impunity, notwithstanding the 

 slight prussic acid flavor which pervades even their 

 luscious sugary juice ; but some constitutions are 

 liable to be affected by this trace. It was, indeed, 

 considered unlikely that amelioration would be car- 

 ried much further. For at least a century little 

 improvement has been effected, and in every variety 

 the kernels have proved intensely bitter. But at 

 last this is overcome ; in the specimen above de- 

 scribed the deleterious quality considered inherent 

 in the species has disappeared ; and Mr. Barker 

 himself informed me that his fruits with sweet ker- 

 nels may be eaten as a full meal, in quantities at 

 any time of the day, and repeatedly, with perfect 

 safety." 



To this we have nothing to object except that it 

 scarcely gives the Stanwick nectarine so high a 

 character as it deserves. In fact, at the time when 

 the description was written, its full value was im- 

 perfectly understood, the fruit which reached Lon- 

 don having been damaged in the carriage. We 

 have lately, however, been favored by His Grace 

 the Duke of Northumberland, with a liberal supply, 

 which arrived in the most perfect condition, and 



